Sugar Snow
by lackam
Summary: Elrond and his brother see their first Sugar Snow.


Title: Sugar Snow  
Author: amber  
Beta: Oil  
Rating: G

Characters: Elrond, Elros, Maglor, Maedhros  
Disclaimer: All major characters belong to Tolkien; I am just borrowing them.  
Timeline: First Age, several years after the Havens of Sirion fell.

Summary: The twins experience their first Sugar Snow.

With spring just around the corner, the harsh winter was loosening its hold on the region. Grass could be seen poking through the snow in many places and buds were beginning to appear on bushes and trees. While still cool, the air carried a promise of warmth as the days grew longer. The ground was a muddy mess that attracted elflings in their play much to their keeper's dismay, and their delight. It was a time of gathering as everyone came together for the spring planting.

At the age of ten, Elrond and Elros had of course worn them selves out playing, and basically getting in the way as they watched everyone prepare for the planting. They had barely been able to stay awake in the bath Maglor demanded they take before dinner. While they ate their dinner heartily, their heads had drooped repeatedly while desert was being served. After the dishes had been cleared away by the servants, they had snuggled together on the rug before the fire and fell asleep listening to Maglor play his harp.

In the middle of the night, they both curled closer together as they shivered in cold. Maglor came in soon after and added additional blankets to the bed. When the boys awoke the following morning they noticed the reversal in the weather. It was cold again. Dressing accordingly, the boys rushed into the kitchens for warmth and something to eat. Maedhros was sitting at the table sipping a cup of tea. He motioned for the boys to sit and eat.

"Where is Ada, uncle Maedhros?" Elros asked him.

"He has left with the foresters for the grove of Maples beyond the ridge. When it turns cold and snows again after a spring warming spell we are able to harvest a lot of syrup from the trees. It is called a sugar snow because of this," he answered. "If you hurry, I will take you with me and you can help with the collection."

The twins cheered in excitement of something new. After he had helped them clean up from breakfast and into their winter clothing, Maedhros led them to the stables where they harnessed a large wagon to several of the draft horses. Riding in the back, the twins pestered their uncle with questions about what they were going to do. Maedhros was glad he had plenty of patience dealing with youngster by the time they arrived in the grove.

"Hey, those are the buckets we helped make this winter," Elros said as he pointed to a pile of buckets on the ground.

"There are the troughs too," exclaimed Elrond as he looked around. There were two large fires with gigantic vats held about a foot over the fire coals. Ellon a few inches taller than the twins tended the fire while some even older ellon stirred whatever was in the vats.

"Come boys," Maglor said as he arrived in the clearing. "Elros, you stay with me. Elrond you go with Maedhros."

"Grab a pile of troughs and buckets son," the older brother said as he talked to the ellon stirring the giant kettle. He watched as Elrond put an even number of the troughs into one bucket, then counted out the same number of buckets and stacked them within each other in two even piles. Nodding his approval, he signaled Elrond to put the buckets onto a large shoulder yoke so he could carry them.

They walked about half a mile into the woods before they stepped off of the trail and travel east another quarter mile. Maedhros then set the yoke down and told Elrond to separate the buckets and troughs. When he saw that the younger twin was done he told Elrond to grab two of the buckets. They then walked up to the nearest maple. Asking questions to ensure Elrond knew how to identify the various trees in winter, he produced a large hammer and a bore.

"Elrond, place the bucket on the ground and hold the trough about five inches from the top of it," Maedhros directed. When Elrond had placed the trough where told, he scraped the bark off underneath it and continued. First he bore a hole into the tree at Elrond's mark. "Now, hold tight and do not move your hand."

He then proceeded to pound the trough into the maple tree. Once satisfied that it was in far enough, he had Elrond turn the little knob on top so the sap could flow out into the bucket. "Come let us place these other buckets so we can return to them for collection later. Do you think you can carry some empty buckets on a small yoke?"

"I am larger than the other elflings my age and the Ash is lightweight so I should be able to carry some," Elrond answered. "Is that why we use this kind of wood?"

"That is one reason," he answered. "We also use white ash or cedar wood because neither one will leave a flavor or color in the sap. We pull sap from a tree for five days, rotating it so that we pull an even amount from all."

Nodding his understanding, Elrond helped put out the rest of the buckets and followed his uncle back to the fire. After taking a cup of hot tea to warm him, he dragged two larger collection buckets to his uncle's yoke while Maedhros found him a smaller yoke. Once he ensured that it fit properly, he gather up empty sap buckets for Elrond to carry himself. Then they set out to collect sap. Maedhros showed Elrond how to ensure they wasted no sap as they filled his collection buckets. Once they were full, Elrond filled two of his sap buckets full to carry more sap back. Maedhros took his time returning to the fire so that Elrond could keep up without spilling any.

When they finally arrived, the fire master emptied their buckets into the large vat of sap boiling over the far fire. Elrond watched as the fire master piled lots of wood under the vat to make it boil.

"How long does it have to boil for?" he asked.

"It must boil for at least four hours," the fire master told him. "Do you see my helpers over there at the other fire? They stir the sap constantly to ensure that it does not burn. By constantly picking up ladles full and pouring them back in, they keep the sap from boiling too quickly. They also skim the top for impurities constantly. After it boils down to the desired thickness, we ladle it into storage buckets and canisters to take to the different farms for storage."

"Come Elrond," Maedhros called as he was ready to head out again. They made four more trips into the trees before they took a break for lunch. The ellith of Maglor's house had brought a wagon containing food which they cooked and prepared in a tent set up for that purpose. After they had eaten, Elrond again prepared the buckets for another round into the trees.

"Elrond come," Maedhros called. "You stay here and take a nap in the back of the cook tent. I have set up a cot for you."

"But I am not tired," Elrond said as he rubbed his eyes.

"If you do not rest, you will fall asleep before the dance tonight," Maedhros told him. "You do not want to do that do you?"

Elrond shook his head and retreated to the cot in the back of the tent. He was surprised to see his brother and some other elflings already asleep there. Lying down, he was asleep before his uncle finished pulling up the covers over him.

"They grow so fast, these Peredhil," Maglor commented from behind him.

"Yes they do," came the quiet answer. Then he turned and smirked at his younger brother, "Do you need help catching up on your end? Elrond and I were able to keep on schedule."

"I should have known better than to choose Elros," Maglor laughed as he nodded. "He spilled two buckets, and I swear he ate another. I gave him a tonic for his stomach so it would not hurt him later."

"You chose him because you know I have no patience with his attitude," Maedhros said as he exited the tent.

Elrond woke two hours later to find the tent deserted. Washing his face to help him wake, he then drank a cup of warm milk set before him.

"Go out and work for the fire master until your uncle arrives," he was told by one of the ellith in the tent. The fire master saw him and directed him to bring him empty storage containers to be filled. One of the older ellon loaded the containers onto the wagon afterwards. Finally his uncle returned. As Maedhros rested Elrond set up for the next run. He watched as his brother ran around, getting in everybody's way. He tried to stop his brother but was pushed away angrily.

"Stop trying to ruin my fun," Elros whined.

"Come Elrond, it is time to go," Maedhros called to keep the brothers from fighting. He and Maglor had noticed a marked difference in the twin's behavior since the first of the year. Elros seemed more human in his actions while Elrond was more controlled like an elf. They often talked between themselves and wondered if this was a precursor to the twin's future.

They collected sap until two hours after dark when they wrapped up for the day and returned to the house. Upon arrival the twins were led directly to the tub for a good scrubbing then told to put on their best clothes for the feast and dance. They hurried to Maglor's room afterwards so he could fix their hair while they waited for dinner to begin.

Elrond asked what happen to the syrup they had brought back and was told how the cooks stored some as syrup for hot cakes and how they boiled down the rest to make a brown sugar that could be used either at table or to cook with. If they were lucky and well behaved, they may earn the right to have some maple candy made from the sugar after the feast.

The twins both ate all of their dinner and were shown some of the dances by some of the older ellith who thought they were cute. They were both on there best behavior so they could earn the right to taste their first maple candy that night. Maglor finally deemed that they had behaved enough when he saw Elrond begin to yawn and gave them each a maple leaf shape candy which both popped into their mouths. Their eyes widen in delight as the candy slowly dissolved in their mouths. Soon they were racing around the hall and causing trouble as the sugar entered their systems. The adults watched in amusement knowing that the sugar high would end quicker if they let them run it out. They had learned long ago to ration how much you give elflings but knew that their Lords made many mistakes as 'new parents' were bound to do.

Soon Elrond tired and climbed into Maedhros's lap even though he was technically too big, where he quickly fell asleep. They watched as Elros ran around for another hour before taking a break. As soon as he sat back in the chair, he promptly fell asleep and would have fallen over if Maglor had not caught him.

"So do you think it is the sugar that kept him going for so long?" he asked his brother as they put the twins to bed.

"Yes, I do," came the thoughtful reply. Pointing to Elros, he continued. "But it is more than that. He reacts as a human child would while his brother reacts as an elf, just as we have witnessed before. We will have to watch and adjust for their temperaments as we raise them. Elros will take all of the attention if we allow him. He already shows the impatience and impertinence of the Second born. Elrond will mature slower and therefore be overshadowed by his brother if we are not careful."

"I agree," Maglor said. "But all in all, it was not a bad day for their first Sugar Snow."


End file.
